Carers Support West Sussex

Carers Support West Sussex is an independent charity supporting some of the 89,000 family and friend carers living in West Sussex. Anyone can be a carer, an 85-year-old caring for their partner with Dementia; an 18-year old looking after her Mum with a long-term illness; a young person looking after a parent with an alcohol problem; or someone looking after a partner with cancer whilst continuing to work and support the family. Carers Support West Sussex offers practical and emotional support no matter what the caring circumstance. For some caring has always been part of their life, for many the role evolves over time and for others they are suddenly thrown into a caring role. Our team of staff and volunteers, work with and for family and friend carers. Our vision is to bring the day forward when family and friend carers are seen, heard, and included.
Carers told us that the top three challenges they face were:
• experiencing feelings of stress
• managing their own physical and mental health and
• not being able to take time away from their caring role.
At Carers Support West Sussex we really do recognise that caring can be both wonderful and tough. It can also often become a full time job, leaving carers with little or no time for themselves. We have developed the 'Check in and Chat' telephone befriending service that will provide carers with the opportunity to be matched with with volunteer who will provide regular telephone calls providing a listening ear and a friendly chat with someone that understands the issues that carers face.

Information for volunteers

Carers Support West Sussex welcomes volunteers with a range of skills and experience to support our services in many ways. Carers are at risk of becoming socially isolated due to the constraints of their caring role and we know that for some carers the opportunity to speak to someone that understands their situation is hugely valuable. We will match volunteers with carers in need of someone to talk to through our Check in & Chat service, asking the Check in and Chat volunteers to commit to offering regular times each week/month when they are available to telephone allocated carers.
The difference you will make:
Being socially connected and part of the community can really support a person’s feeling of well-being and alleviate feelings of being lonely and having no one to talk to. Being able to talk about hobbies and interests with someone else can give a carer a sense of self and what makes them happy in life. It can be just a small thing that can make so much difference. Do not underestimate the value of the call you make to a carer and the impact that will have on their well-being.
Your calls will help to create social connections for the carer and support them to:
• feel less isolated and alone in their caring role
•have an increase in their social connections
•feel more able to access services available to them in their community